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| January 4, 2003 | Saturday | Shawwal 30, 1423 |
Records tumble for centurion Waugh in final Test
SYDNEY, Jan 3: Australian captain Steve Waugh hit the last ball of the day for four to complete a brilliant century after becoming just the third player to pass 10,000 Test runs on second day of the final Ashes match against England on Friday.
His unbeaten 102, helped Australia reach stumps at 237 for five, still 125 behind England’s first innings total of 362, but far better off than when he came to the crease with his side on the ropes at 45 for three wickets.
In one of the most amazing finishes to a day’s cricket, Waugh smashed off-spinner Richard Dawson through the covers to go from 98 to his 29th Test century.
The boundary meant Waugh equalled Don Bradman’s Australian record that had stood since 1948 and put him joint third on the on the all-comers’ list headed by Indians Sunil Gavaskar (34) and Sachin Tendulkar (31).
Waugh had earlier climbed another personal mountain when he joined Allan Border and Gavaskar as the only players to reach the magical 10,000-run mark.
When he reached 69, Waugh, who is already making his world record-equalling 156th Test appearance, joined fellow Australian Border (11,174) and former Indian captain Gavaskar (10,122) as the only players to reach 10,000 runs.
Waugh hardly played a false stroke as he smashed 18 fours in an innings spanning 176 minutes and 130 balls.
England fast bowler Andy Caddick had just torn through the Australian top-order, removing Matthew Hayden (15), Ricky Ponting (seven) and Justin Langer (25) in quick succession but Waugh was up to the task.
Despite making half-centuries in the past two Tests, the captain had been below his best but he immediately showed he was in the mood when he belted two quick boundaries off Matthew Hoggard then smashed three in a row off Caddick to race to his 50 off 61 balls.
He paused briefly to acknowledge the applause when he made it to 69 and the 10,000 mark and then refocused, sharing a 90-run partnership with Damien Martyn before the Western Australian threw his wicket away for 26.
Adam Gilchrist joined Waugh in the final hour and followed his skipper’s lead to finish the day unbeaten on 45 in an 87-run partnership to give Australia hope of completing a 5-0 whitewash.
Waugh’s prospects of making a hundred before stumps seemed to have disappeared when he hit Dawson for three to reach 98 in the last over of the day with just two balls left.
But Gilchrist took a sharp single off the penultimate ball to put his skipper back on strike and he found a hole in the tightly-set field to reach triple figures.
Waugh’s performance overshadowed an equally brave display from England’s oldest player Alec Stewart.
The 39-year-old shrugged off the effects of chickenpox to belt 71 off 86 balls and ensure the tourists a respectable total before the tail collapsed as they lost their last five wickets for 30.
Stewart cracked 15 fours to complete his third half-century of the series and overtake Geoff Boycott as England’s third highest run scorer in Test cricket, taking his career total to 8,149, behind only Graham Gooch (8,900) and David Gower (8,231).
He fell just before lunch with the total on 332 after sharing a 92-run stand with John Crawley.
Crawley started the day unbeaten on six with England 264-5 and added just 29 to his score before running out of partners shortly after lunch.
Andy Bichel, bowling with a broken finger, triggered the England collapse when he bowled Stewart and then had Dawson caught behind for two.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND (1st Innings, overnight 264-5):
M.E. Trescothick c G’christ b Bichel 19
M.P. Vaughan c G’christ b Lee 0
M.A. Butcher b Lee 124
N. Hussain c G’christ b G’espie 75
R.W.T. Key lbw b Waugh 3
J.P. Crawley not out 35
A.J. Stewart b Bichel 71
R.K.J. Dawson c G’christ b Bichel 2
A.R. Caddick b MacGill 7
M.J. Hoggard st G’christ b MacGill 0
S.J. Harmison run out 4
EXTRAS (B-6, LB-3, NB-13) 22
TOTAL (all out, 127 overs) 362
FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-32, 3-198, 4-210, 5-240, 6-332, 7-337, 8-348, 9-350.
BOWLING: Gillespie 27-10-62-1 (1nb); Lee 31-9-97-2 (3nb); Bichel 21-5-86-3 (4nb); MacGill 44-8-106-2 (5nb); Waugh 4-3-2-1.
AUSTRALIA (1st Innings):
J.L. Langer c Hoggard b Caddick 25
M.L. Hayden lbw b Caddick 15
R.T. Ponting c Stewart b Caddick 7
D.R. Martyn c Caddick b Harmison 26
S.R. Waugh not out 102
M.L. Love c T’cothick b Harmison 0
A.C. Gilchrist not out 45
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-5, W-2, NB-8) 17
TOTAL (for five wkts, 51 overs) 237
FALL OF WKTS: 1-36, 2-45, 3-56, 4-146, 5-150.
BOWLING (to-date): Hoggard 13-2-65-0 (5nb); Caddick 16-3-88-3 (2nb); Harmison 13-4-44-2 (1nb, 2w); Dawson 9-0-33-0.—Reuters
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